Updates - Parramatta cleanout has begun

[oldmancraigy]

THEY'RE GUESSING!!! :crazy:

LU Parramatta Eels Forum - aka the Chinese whispers forum

Yeah - it's all educated guessing - but it IS actually possible (over time) to build up a body of resources which can be checked against credible sources to see just how accurate ones guesses are.

I've been keeping a 'salary cap' list for a few years now (it gets slightly more accurate every year).
When the thing came out in the media that we had 'no money' I called it false and suggested there was almost $1.1 million to spend. However we needed to buy 10 players altogether with that amount to make up our top 25.
2 big signings later, and we're down to "bargain basement" signings (just over 500k between 8 players).

Yeah, there's guesswork, but when you keep checking and changing your 'guesses' you can get a fair idea of what's going on.

 

[sooperdooper]

from my understandin is.....ben smith has not been tapped on the shoulder.
but has been told: improve and you get a shot
where as cordoba and co have benn told.... not wanted

 

[Ron Jeremy]

but i thought big, bad, bustling, boofy Benny Smith was the greatest defensive centre in the game? surely he'd be one of the first picked if that was the case?

 

[strider]

but i thought big, bad, bustling, boofy Benny Smith was the greatest defensive centre in the game? surely he'd be one of the first picked if that was the case?

and clearly our 2nd worst defensive record (BY FAR - thank god for the incompetant roosters) in the entire NRL is a clear testament to how well we defend without him in the side :thumn

 

[oldmancraigy]

and clearly our 2nd worst defensive record (BY FAR - thank god for the incompetant roosters) in the entire NRL is a clear testament to how well we defend without him in the side :thumn

Yeah... never let your Ben Smith bias get in the way of the facts.

With Ben Smith in the team we allowed 26.22 points per game.
Without him we allow 17.5 points per game.

If we extended our record WITHOUT him to the entire season we'd have given up 228 points. Which would be good for 3rd best in the entire NRL.

I really liked Ben Smith 3-4 years ago - but we need to face the facts - he's slow and crap now. And his defense is atrocious.

If he hasn't been given the old tap on the shoulder then that is really bad news.

 

[parra-matters]

Ben hasn't recovered from his knee injury, shame really he was playing some great footy before he injuried himself in NZ a couple of years ago.

 

[strider]

Yeah... never let your Ben Smith bias get in the way of the facts.

With Ben Smith in the team we allowed 26.22 points per game.
Without him we allow 17.5 points per game.

If we extended our record WITHOUT him to the entire season we'd have given up 228 points. Which would be good for 3rd best in the entire NRL.

I really liked Ben Smith 3-4 years ago - but we need to face the facts - he's slow and crap now. And his defense is atrocious.

If he hasn't been given the old tap on the shoulder then that is really bad news.

never let dumb stats get in the way of the truth either :lol: .... btw - if you had taken note, my reply was to a statement about BEN SMITH AT CENTRE - not just ben smith in the team - go and recalculate those amazing stats for games with him at centre, it'll be different, but we'll still be no closer to an answer about whether he's a good defensive centre or not

I firmly believe our backline defense is better with a fit, ben smith at centre - but I also recognise that he has offered pretty much sweet FA in attack in recent times playing at centre at NRL level, so I have no problem with Anderson making changes and putting him back to wenty (cos I don't think ben is a 2nd rower, never have) .... look at our alternative backline defenders - TT makes terrible reads, Grothe while much better this year can still be badly exploited, Burt can be a turnstyle, Inu is all over the shop - infact Reddy is the only guy I don't have heart palpatations over when they run at him

 

[oldmancraigy]

never let dumb stats get in the way of the truth either :lol: .... btw - if you had taken note, my reply was to a statement about BEN SMITH AT CENTRE - not just ben smith in the team - go and recalculate those amazing stats for games with him at centre, it'll be different, but we'll still be no closer to an answer about whether he's a good defensive centre or not

I firmly believe our backline defense is better with a fit, ben smith at centre - but I also recognise that he has offered pretty much sweet FA in attack in recent times playing at centre at NRL level, so I have no problem with Anderson making changes and putting him back to wenty (cos I don't think ben is a 2nd rower, never have) .... look at our alternative backline defenders - TT makes terrible reads, Grothe while much better this year can still be badly exploited, Burt can be a turnstyle, Inu is all over the shop - infact Reddy is the only guy I don't have heart palpatations over when they run at him

"dumb stats" just tell us what has been happening...

The problem with expecting a fit Ben Smith is that his knee is gone. He cannot move sideways with any quickness at all - hence our defence is suffering. Now sometimes these things take 18 months to heal, so I guess we COULD hold out hope that Ben will get his lateral quickness back - but I won't hold a candle for it!

TT is worse in defence - Grothe/ Burt play wing - different scenario!
Reddy used to be the worst defender in the team, but now he is passable - and Inu has actually been going MUCH BETTER than most people on this forum give him credit for. Watch his defence on Sunday closely - I'll bet you're surprised.

Anyway - as it currently stands, Ben Smith IS NOT our best defender in the centers - we do much better without him.

 

[TheRam]

Jeez I'm hoping that one K. Filinga amazes all of us by next year and solves this problem for us or else our backline is never going to settle and be properly affective.

 

[ianlovesparra]

Jeez I'm hoping that one K. Filinga amazes all of us by next year and solves this problem for us or else our backline is never going to settle and be properly affective.

Don't want to put the pressure on him and make him out to be the saviour of this team.
But i think if Karl can just get his fitness levels up, which will come naturally with more games and keep playing well as he is now, then i don't see why he can't be pushing for a starting centre position for parra next season.

Go special K .

 

[Maroubra Eel]

I wish they would sack the whole bloody team. 13th or whatever we are on the table is f**king hopeless! All our players are f**ked!

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Yeah... never let your Ben Smith bias get in the way of the facts.

With Ben Smith in the team we allowed 26.22 points per game.
Without him we allow 17.5 points per game.

If we extended our record WITHOUT him to the entire season we'd have given up 228 points. Which would be good for 3rd best in the entire NRL.

I really liked Ben Smith 3-4 years ago - but we need to face the facts - he's slow and crap now. And his defense is atrocious.

If he hasn't been given the old tap on the shoulder then that is really bad news.

:lol:

 

[hineyrulz]

I wish they would sack the whole bloody team. 13th or whatever we are on the table is f**king hopeless! All our players are f**ked!

:lol:

 

[Redback71]

I wish they would sack the whole bloody team. 13th or whatever we are on the table is f**king hopeless! All our players are f**ked!

That statement can apply to some of the posters on here as well.

 

[Maroubra Eel]

That statement can apply to some of the posters on here as well.

Well thats good. My crappy posts match the teams performance. I am the first to admit my posts are half arsed, lame, lazy, and not up to scratch!

 

[caylo]

I wish they would sack the whole bloody team. 13th or whatever we are on the table is f**king hopeless! All our players are f**ked!

Mate well I'll tell you this, we have some very classyh players like Hayne, Inu, KK, Hindy, Fui and Mateo, A team doesn't need massive changes to move along way up the ladder. The addition of a few fresh faces like Poore and Shack, some younger players comming up like Mortz, Mitchell and Filinga and we can have a very good team.

The best eg is brisbane, who once they have had a few injuries to a couple of key players they hav dropped massivly in form. Sometimes you are only 2-3 good players away from climbing up the ladder into a top 4 spot

 

[Pazza]

seems like a clean out of the talented juniours we should be holding onto!

 

[strider]

Mate well I'll tell you this, we have some very classyh players like Hayne, Inu, KK, Hindy, Fui and Mateo, A team doesn't need massive changes to move along way up the ladder. The addition of a few fresh faces like Poore and Shack, some younger players comming up like Mortz, Mitchell and Filinga and we can have a very good team.

The best eg is brisbane, who once they have had a few injuries to a couple of key players they hav dropped massivly in form. Sometimes you are only 2-3 good players away from climbing up the ladder into a top 4 spot

yeah but brisbane's 2-3 (probably 4 or 5 really) good players are top line internationals - hayne is our only player really in their class atm .... comparing lockyer, hodges, folau, thaiday, hunt to hayne, hindy, fui, poore is a real stretch tbh .... we will no doubt go better with a cleanout (can't go much worse), but we are still well off the pace tbh - poore and shack will help but we need something better to make us a real contender

 

[Raudonikis]

I wish they would sack the whole bloody team. 13th or whatever we are on the table is f**king hopeless! All our players are f**ked!

:lol: close,but not all of them,not after today but we shall see what happens next week

 

[Raudonikis]

is karl filiga signed for next season?